Advent Private Capital Exits Locker Group Holdings

Advent Private Capital, an Australian mid-market private equity firm, has exited its investment in Locker Group Holding, selling the company to Valmont Industries. Locker Group is a manufacturer of perforated and expanded metal for the non-residential market. Terms of the sale were not released.
PRESS RELEASE
Advent Private Capital, the leading Australian mid-market private equity firm, today announces the sale of Locker Group Holdings Pty Ltd to Valmont Industries, Inc. (NYSE: VMI). Locker Group is a manufacturer of perforated and expanded metal for the non-residential market, industrial flooring and handrails for the access systems market, and screening media for applications in the industrial and mining sectors.
Locker has annual sales of approximately $80 million, has over 300 employees and operates five manufacturing locations across Australia, New Zealand, India and China. Founded in 1956, Locker has transformed since its 2006 acquisition by Advent. Locker has completed a number of significant operational and continuous improvement programs concentrating on optimising Locker’s manufacturing, warehousing, procurement and IT operations. The strengthened sales and marketing team are also capitalising on opportunities in the architectural and construction industries along with the engineering, infrastructure and mining markets.
“Locker is a great example of an Advent investment,” said Advent Managing Director Rupert Harrington. “We have grown the business into the market leader in Australia and Asia by strengthening its manufacturing footprint, investing heavily in sales and operations, along with expanding its operations offshore into India and China. We are extremely pleased with how the business has grown and prospered during our investment period.”
“Advent is immensely proud to have supported and been a partner with such a high quality management team led by Ed Sill,” said Advent Investment Director Symon Vegter. “They are a passionate and motivated team that have delivered an exceptional plan. The sale to Valmont will result in a highly successful exit generating an expected return of over 2.5 times for our investors.”
Mr Ed Sill, CEO of Locker Group, said: “With the help of Advent Private Capital, we have been successfully able to improve and expand our business. Advent has been a great partner, which has provided excellent guidance and assistance as we pursued our strategy. We are now looking forward to entering the next phase of the company’s development with Valmont.”
The transaction is Advent’s third successful exit in the last 6 months where each generated returns greater than 2.5 times the amount invested, including Genesis Care at a 2.8x money multiple and Regency at a 2.5x money multiple.
Following the Locker exit, Advent will have returned the majority of invested capital in Advent 5 to its investors with the remaining Advent 5 portfolio performing strongly.
For further information, please contact Rupert Harrington or Symon Vegter on +61 3 9690 9566.
About Advent Private Capital
Advent Private Capital is a Melbourne‐based mid‐market private equity fund manager with over $500million in funds under management. Advent has a long and successful track record in building market leading businesses valued up to $200m. Since it was founded in 1984, Advent has invested in over 80 companies. Past Advent investments include GenesisCare, SCADAGroup, Primary Health Care Limited, Taverner Hotel Group, the Tesa Group, Ayers Rock Resort, Vision Systems, ACIL, Gale Pacific Limited and Sleepmaster. Current Advent investments include IPG, Trivantage Group, UGM, ISIS, TR and Orionstone.